PLAINVIEW – Welsh writer David Rowe will be the featured speaker for the “High Tea with Dylan Thomas” event slated for Thursday, April 12 at Wayland Baptist University.

Sponsored by the Division of Languages and Literature, the event will be held from 4-5 p.m. in the McClung University Center, Room 211. Rowe will be sharing from insights from his 2003 book on Thomas’ life and poetry, and tea and refreshments will be served. The public is welcome to attend.

Titled Dylan: Fern Hill to Milk Wood, the Bumpy Road to Glory, the book is a short biography of the Welsh poet, featuring photos and extracts from Thomas’ work on each page. Rowe examines the many myths and misconceptions surrounding the poet’s life and work, including the perceptions of him as a wild boy who roared through his brief life, that of the doomed poet who praised the fleeting beauty of youth and innocence and the sensitive artist who was misunderstood by the wider world.

Rowe studied at the University of Leeds, the University of Lyon and the University of Dijon, where he earned the doctorate in French literature. A full-time writer and director, he has led dramatic interpretations of his books A House of Leaves as well as Dylan. He is the founder of Gweithdy’r Gair, a bilingual nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing cultural activities to the public. Since 1993, he has served as advisor to the Arts Council of Bath, the governing body that funds arts in the United Kingdom. Aside from his literary expertise, Rowe is an authority on Celtic mythology, a subject with historical ties to A House of Leaves.

Rowe will also be speaking at the luncheon for Honors Program students on Friday.